


or i'll sleep in the rain

by DiscoCritic



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album), My Chemical Romance, The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Comic)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Suicide Attempt, Thunderstorms, but i'm going to tag it, i don't know if this counts as attempted suicide, just in case people have it blacklisted or something
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-16 02:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19308664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiscoCritic/pseuds/DiscoCritic
Summary: show pony sees him three times.





	or i'll sleep in the rain

**Author's Note:**

> warning for attempted suicide (if this counts): a character is seen standing on the edge of a building, considering jumping, but is stopped before they attempt anything.

The first time they see the boy, he's shoplifting at Tommy Chow Mein's.

The figure in the second aisle, frame hidden by an oversized purple hoodie, is inspecting the merchandise just a little too closely. As Pony watches, he makes a move to slip something up his shirt.

The store owner, arms full carrying a box of plastic toothbrushes, suddenly drops the package and rushes over to him. The two other customers pretend they're not paying attention and continue browsing the overpriced-by-ten-carbons goods.

"What do you think you're doing, boy?" he barks. The boy jumps and a can of beans falls out from under his ratty jacket.

"N-nothing," he stammers. "I was, uh…"

The boy's got to be seventeen or eighteen, somewhere around Show Pony's own age. (At least, they assume that's their own age; you can't be too sure out here. Time passes strangely. Maybe they're actually thirty and just lost track of time.)

Chow Mein snatches back the can and gives the boy the evil eye. "Out of my store now."

Show Pony watches him walk out with his hands jammed in his pockets. He's lucky he didn't get more than a cold warning. Tommy has a gun specifically to scare off the older teenage thugs.

They figure this kid doesn't fit the criteria. He's scrawny and not really threatening enough. He gives off more of the "homeless wanderer" than "juvenile delinquent" vibes.

The next time they see the boy, it's from the back of Dr. D's old pickup two days later. They and two other Zone rats lounge in the truck bed, feeling the sun beat down on their uncovered faces and the wind thread through their hair. Hot Chimp is driving because the Doc's having a particularly bad day—the persistent pain that barely ever goes away has come back worse in both legs—and they're going to Zone One to drop off the truck in exchange for a supply of stronger painkillers. He won't be driving around anymore regardless, so there's no need to keep the pickup any longer.

They roll to a stop in front of a half-collapsed warehouse. It looks a little seedy, but Pony's seen worse.

Chimp presses the horn, and a heavyset man with two little dogs nipping at his heels comes out from the back exits. The DJ gets out to negotiate a deal.

Pony jumps down and ties his shoe, and then heads for a rock nearby. The warehouse is backed up next to a shallow cave, and little stalagmites (or are they stalactites?) jut up from the ground at the entrance.

They settle down on top of a nice-sized boulder and survey the landscape. The other two 'runners that came with him stay behind, holding hands and cuddling and just enjoying each other's company. 

They're lonely by themself, having not been with a partner in a while, so they don't really want to sit there and watch and be even lonelier. They decide to stay here and bask in the sunlight, doing their second favorite thing: channeling the spirit of a lizard.

Lizards are cool. They make nice earrings when they bite onto your earlobes and dangle—if you can deal with the little sting of pain.

And if that gets annoying, well, at least they're nutritious.

Win-win for Show Pony, eh?

They must fall asleep somehow, because the next thing they know, the sun is going down and they've fallen off their perch. Hot Chimp looks like she's almost done negotiating the deal, and as they walk back, they hear the end of the terms of the deal. The guy'll come to the station tomorrow to pick up the truck with one of his buddies, so right now they'll have a way to get back home.

As they hop in the back, wedging themself snugly between two bales of hay, a glint of something catches their eye back at the cave.

They squint. It's the boy. He's scurrying around the entrance with a metal pot or something, and Show Pony realizes that's what was making the sun glare off at them a second earlier.

Maybe they should get out and introduce themself?

But the truck roars to life and they're pulling out before they have a chance to move. They wave as they pass the cave one last time anyway.

The boy looks up, watching them, but he doesn't wave back.

The third time they sees the boy, it's pouring down rain and he's about to jump off the second floor of an abandoned parking complex.

Show Pony initially ventured up here to get out of the thunderstorm, but they got distracted after walking inside. A couple cars sit in their parking spots, left years ago at the start of the Analog Wars. They don't bother to check any out; they were looted and siphoned of gas long ago.

Thunder crashes loud enough to make them jump and the hairs on their arms stand up on end. It sounded like that was right beside them.

Then there's a muffled cry from the level above and they freeze.

Someone else's in here! A friend!

Well, it  _could_ be a drac, which would definitely not be a friend, but it  _could_ be another 'runner. And it wouldn't hurt to have a little company during the rain.

So they head up to the next level, thinking how great it would be to get one of those shopping carts lying around the Zones and push someone down this ramp in it. They've seen a couple outside of the Paradise Motel, but that's a long way away from here. Wherever here is. Zone One or somewhere cl—

All of a sudden, a shadow makes them look up. There's someone standing on the edge of an opening made by a bomb blast. His knees are bent like he's going to jump down.

Down to the ground, two, almost three stories below. In the rain. Landing onto concrete.

"Hey!" they call, suddenly afraid he's going to leap right then and there.  _"Don't do that!"_

He turns around, almost losing his balance, and Show Pony sees who it is. They run forward just as he clutches a pipe sticking out from the opening, narrowly avoiding falling off.

"Get down," they say, softer this time. "Don't jump, please. Let me help."

The boy shakes his head. Well, now that they've seen him up close, he doesn't look much like a boy. More like a young man. A skinny, terrified, young man.

Lightning flashes, illuminating his face.

He has brown hair the same color of the dirt smudged across his face. His sweatshirt, the same one he was wearing at the store the first time Pony laid eyes on him, is pretty much rags instead of sweatshirt. There's a large hole in the knee of his jeans, dried blood peeking out from between the last threads struggling to hold the fabric together.

"Nobody can help," he says, despair saturating the words. "I can't even help." He looks back at the hole in the wall, but Show Pony grabs his wrist before he can edge back over there. "I don't know what to do anymore."

He crumples to the ground, pulling them down too. Tears pool in his eyes and he buries his head in his arms.

"You gotta name?" they ask, sitting cross-legged beside him. They've carefully positioned themself between the wall and the guy in case he tries to jump again.

"It's Max," he mumbles after a long moment. Show thinks they've misheard him. His words are muffled since his face is still hidden. But they don't make a move to get him to look up.

Max? That's not a great alias. Easy for Better Living to track you down with.

"I mean, like, a 'joy name. No birth name-givin' here," they chuckle awkwardly. "I'm Show Pony. Didn't get named  _that_ when I was a youngling. But 'ey, I think it's a little more interesting than any normal name, y'know?"

 _Dammit_ , they're rambling again. It's not really the time for jokes.

Thankfully, the boy doesn't seem to notice. Or maybe he just doesn't care. People about to jump out of buildings don't usually care about dumb jokes.

"No, no Killjoy name," he whispers. "It's just Max Armstrong. I just got out of the city a few days ago." He wipes at his face, then raises his gaze. "Me and my brother. But he's… he's not doing well."

"What d'you mean?"

"They were gonna—well, y'know the pills?"

Show Pony nods. Of course they know the pills. Everyone knows the pills.

"Well, I stopped taking mine a couple months ago. But my brother didn't, uh, he actually got into the stash I had building up and he overdosed two weeks ago. Um, Better Living Medical saved him, but as soon as he "got better" they said they were gonna take him to re-evaluation. Which, you know, no one ever comes back the same after that."

Max shuts his eyes before continuing and takes a deep breath. "So I broke us both out as soon as he could walk. But he's really sick now, with Zone flu or something and now—and I can't find real medicine, and nobody has food and we don't have any money. He—his name's Gabe, um, Gabriel actually, and now he's so sick he won't even wake up. H-he hasn't woken up in two days and... I was gonna jump 'cause—I'm so tired, I… I'm just—because I can't do this anymore—"

He makes a little noise like he's trying not to cry, and Pony reaches over to pat him on the arm. "Please don't try to jump," they say.

The pounding rain's almost stopped; it's quiet enough again to hear him without straining.

"Do anything but jump, okay? I'm sure there's gotta be a way to help you."

Max turns away and picks at a thread on his sweatshirt, presumably to hide his watery eyes.

Pony doesn't care. They won't judge.

"Show me where he is and we'll help him. I know a guy… he's good at stuff like this. Had a lotta practice. We can get your brother back. How old's he?"

"Twenty-one. He's my big brother and I just—I want him to get better and I'm scared that he's never gonna…" He stops when his voice trembles. "I just wanna—I'm trying to be strong just in case."

"Come on," Show Pony says. "The storm's almost passed. If you take me to him, I can radio my friend Dr. Death-Defying on the way over and he'll meet us. I think he'll know how to help him."

"Okay." And he stands up, and that's it. Show Pony just successfully talked someone down from the ledge. They feel eternally relieved.

Max goes, and they follow him down the ramp and all the way back to the little cave they'd seen from the back of the truck, where Gabriel lays motionless inside underneath a stolen blanket. He's using a backpack as a pillow. He has a fever just below one hundred and four degrees.

They get out their radio immediately.

Show Pony doesn't really remember what happened after that, because everything is going so fast, but somehow it's suddenly evening of the next day and the sky is clear. Max and Gabriel Armstrong are in the radio station, one room over, as Dr. D and Cola tend to the older brother.

It takes another two days, but he survives. He pulls through faster than either medic thought was possible.

When Pony asks how he recovered that quickly, Cola says he did it for his brother. That he knew he was there and woke up for him.

It's probably true. They have one of the strongest sibling relationships they've ever seen.

And Pony becomes well acquainted with the two of them through the years. The brothers find two other 'joys in need of a larger crew and become one of the most famous desert gangs. Everyone knows who they are. Everybody knows their names. They're legends. 

But still, even though no one else has ever heard the story, even after the Fab Four are long gone, Show Pony never brings up the stormy night they helped save the lives of both Party Poison and the Kobra Kid.

**Author's Note:**

> "come save me from walking off a windowsill or i'll sleep in the rain" - mad as rabbits by panic! at the disco
> 
> song requested by an anonymous user on tumblr.  
> follow me on tumblr @discocritic!


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